El Salvador Cuts Parliamentary Seats by 30%... "Politicians Focused on Stealing"

President Makes Sudden Move Ahead of Presidential Election
Criticism Arises Over Ruling Party's Tactic to Maintain Majority

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The government of El Salvador is drawing global attention by announcing a bill to reduce the number of parliamentary seats by 30% at once. The goal is to cut national expenditures and adjust the number of legislators, which is considered too high relative to the population, but some critics argue that it is a ploy to strengthen the ruling party's power base.

According to Prensa Latina, the Cuban state news agency, on the 8th (local time), President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador signed an amendment to the bill that reduces the number of parliamentary seats from the current 84 to 60, a cut of 24 seats (28.5%), and the amendment is expected to be published in the official gazette soon. This revision of the number of seats will apply starting from the general election scheduled for February next year.

The El Salvador government emphasized that this decision will "reduce national expenditure, promote equality in voting, carry out democratic choices, and enable decision-making favorable to the people." Earlier, President Bukele also stated on his Twitter, "This measure restores the number of seats to before the 'fake' peace agreement signed in 1992," calling it "a decision to protect representative democracy."

In El Salvador, the number of legislators was set at 84 during the process of resolving the civil war that lasted 12 years from 1980 to 1992. President Bukele has dismissed this as political collusion and has continued to belittle the very meaning of the peace agreement. The revised bill also includes provisions to drastically limit the number of local government heads, currently 262, down to 44.

Ahead of the general election, President Bukele has recently declared a war on corruption and is taking steps to significantly reduce the number of legislators under the pretext of cutting national expenditures. His gang crackdown policies have also increased public support. President Bukele emphasized, "Many local government heads and politicians are solely focused on stealing and taking private benefits from residents," and stressed the need to reduce the number of legislators.

However, some analysts argue that President Bukele and the ruling party, Nuevas Ideas, are strategizing to gain political advantage. Eduardo Escobar, a political analyst from the Salvadoran civic group Acci?n Ciudadana, stated, "The ruling party is creating conditions to maintain a majority and strengthen control," adding, "With the opposition mostly at risk of being 'eliminated,' the ruling party could secure more than 80% of the seats through redistricting."